New songs for March 24th, 2021

 here they are:


"All You Ever Wanted" by Rag 'N' Bone Man: Expecting another smooth alt-R & B song from Rag 'N' Bone Man like his mid-2010's mega-hit, "Human"? Think again! On "All You Ever Wanted", Rory "Rag 'N' Bone Man" Graham shows a bit more of a passionate rock and roller side! The ardent enthusiasm and echoic sound of earnest arena bands and performers like Kings of Leon, U2, and Bruce Springsteen have clearly influenced Rag 'N' Bone Man here! A refreshing change of pace, isn't it?! The lyrics seem a bit Springsteen-ian as well, especially during the part when Rory says, "It's a city of a thousand heartbeats/No room for another soul." Fusing rock and roll and poetry with such vivid, touching imagery used to be a thing during the genre's heyday. It's time that fusion was brought back to the mainstream!

"Click Click Domino" by Ida Mae (featuring Marcus King): Husband-and-wife duo, Ida Mae, debut onto this blog with an earthy, gritty brand of blues-rock! Equally gritty blues-rocker, Marcus King, is no stranger to this blog, though, and he is featured as the guest guitarist on Ida Mae's "Click Click Domino." I have yet to find out what the phrase "Click Click Domino" actually means. Could be onomatopoeic, for all I know! However, I do know what the song itself is about. Apparently, it came about as a response to all the "rumors on the internets," to paraphrase one of the best known "Bush-isms," that have been spread about today that make their way into news outlets, the political world, and seemingly everywhere we look. Ida Mae decided they are sick of all that, and make their feelings about it known in "Click Click Domino"!

"Dried Up River" by The Lone Bellow: The laid-back, Americana influenced folk-rock sound of The Lone Bellow's "Dried Up River" makes it seem like something from early in the trio's career. As their career progressed, they seemed to add increasingly more detailed instrumentation into their music. "Dried Up River" just seems like the basic two guitars, bass, and drum (with keyboard in the background) formula that The Lone Bellow used for their first three adult alt radio hits back in 2013. Much as its title suggests, "Dried Up River" really isn't very..."deep" (if you'll pardon the pun). Nothing to really take away from it aside from its billowy, breezy, somewhat rural sound. The lyrics seem to suggest a disconnect of sorts, though it's never made clear whether the problems are romantic or if they're between two struggling friends.

"Questions" by Middle Kids: At the end of this list are Middle Kids, who have been interesting since the beginning of their career (see what I did there?!), providing us with one of the few songs in the history of this blog to begin with the letter Q. Lead singer Hannah Joy sings with anything but joy, laced with doubt and fear, about a relationship in which her partner is probably cheating on her in Middle Kids' latest song, "Questions." The "questions" she has are all about whether the cheating she has suspected has really occurred. The songs sounds sweet enough, though, that some listeners might never suspect that the song is about such a troubling subject, with its fun sounding handclaps and bright, spirited brass section. This being the end of my blog for the week, I hope you have no more questions about "Questions"! 

New songs for the day after the 4th of July, 2017

here they are:


"New York" by St. Vincent: You never quite know what to expect with Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent. A lot of her songs sound like a cross between Bjork and Prince, but there are also other kinds of St. Vincent songs and albums, such as her album, "Love This Giant", with new wave legend David Byrne, and songs whose questionable subject matter and titles are set off by their soothing sound, like "Laughing With A Mouth of Blood". Since I had only really come to know St. Vincent once she released her 2011 breakthrough song, "Cruel", I feel like I might have been missing out on some of the songs she did before. That being said, she probably has done sensitive ballads before, but "New York" is one of the only ballads I have heard of hers so far, and the only one on which piano is the sole accompanying instrument. "New York" is a rather mournful song, in which Annie pines that she "has lost a hero" and "has lost a friend". Not sure if she is bemoaning the loss of a person or the "loss" (artistically speaking, I guess) of New York itself, but either way, it's nice to hear yet another facet of the ever so fascinating St. Vincent catalog!


"Skin" by Rag N Bone Man: Hot on the strength of his surprise fall 2016 hit, "Human", Rag N Bone Man is now poised to put out a second hit song with "Skin". His music once again defies racial and musical boundaries in a creation that is all his own. An icy, bittersweet mix of R & B, electronica, and rock, "Skin" is a very vulnerable song, much like its predecessor, "Human". Its lyrics are a rumination on RNBM's future state, and how he will continue thinking about the object of his affections even when he grows old. Few lyrics in modern music are as heartfelt and open as, "Helpless I surrender, shackled to your love".

Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye! R.I.P. Leonard Cohen (and 3 other songs)

Just received the news last week that Leonard Cohen is no longer alive. Since he also released a new song recently, I will do the honors of reviewing his latest (and last) song. What a major loss for this year! Before that, though, here are 3 more songs:


"Follow the Leader" by Foxygen: You never know what to expect with Foxygen, and perhaps that's what's made them so big among indie fans. They debuted back in early 2013, and highlights from their debut album included the avant-funk-rock song "Shuggie" and the Velvet Underground-esque "No Destruction". "Follow the Leader" marks the third time I've heard a Foxygen song and the first time I'm reviewing one. The results end up sounding like a cross between an Electric Light Orchestra song circa 1976 and a Beck song circa 1996. Also, who is "the leader" that we are supposed to be following here? Well, according to the lyrics of this song, "the leader is you". That's great advice for the modern era!


"Human" by Rag N Bone Man: Between the hip-hop beats of this song and Rory "Rag N Bone Man" Graham's deep, soulful voice, it's not surprising to see that many of the YouTube comments for this song were "I can't believe this guy isn't black". Well, he isn't. He isn't even American, actually. He's a large, white British dude. But so what?! Black, white, large, short, British, American, when it all comes down to it, he's only human, as he states so powerfully and emotionally in his debut song! In addition to transcending racial barriers, "Human" also transcends genre barriers, with its hip-hop and R & B influenced sound currently racing up the predominantly rock dominated alternative charts. Music, after all, is colorblind, and it doesn't judge people in any other ways either.


"Lost On You" by LP: It's been 4 years since LP last had a hit song. She broke through in the summer of 2012 with a free-spirited folk-rock tune called "Into the Wild", which, in addition to its iconic sound, contained equally iconic lyrics, like, "Somebody left the gate open", "Come save us a runaway train goin' insane", and "How do we not fade away into the wild?" Its use in a Citibank commercial throughout that summer solidified the song's popularity during that time. She didn't have any other hits that year or the next, so I thought "Into the Wild" pretty much sealed the deal for LP and that there was no way she could top it. It appears I may be wrong with the release of her latest song, "Lost On You". Like "Into the Wild", "Lost On You" is a sprightly, earnest folk-rock song, though its sound and lyrics are both a bit more melancholy than that one was. True to its title, "Lost On You" has been lost on American audiences so far, at least in comparison to the massive airplay its gotten in European countries like Greece. Let's hope that American audiences will catch onto it just as quickly!


"You Want It Darker" by Leonard Cohen: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. You should know that with a title like "You Want It Darker", dark is exactly what you're gonna get. This song is a gothic tinged folk-rock tune of sorts, a bit like the songs Cohen typically did in the 1980's. As ominous as it may sound instrumentally, though, it's a very sad song lyrically. Like David Bowie's "Lazarus" from late last year, Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker" is a song that deals with a person who knows that they are going to die soon (This is most certainly where the "I'm ready, my Lord" parts of the song come from). Like Bowie, Cohen inspired generation after generation of alt and indie rock musicians. People that Cohen has influenced include R.E.M., The Smiths, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, and Bon Iver, all of whom mix a folk-rock sound with lyrics about isolation and loneliness. R.I.P. Leonard Cohen. You will truly be missed!